Taiwan Trade April 2016

Taiwan: Contraction in exports eases in April

May 10, 2016

In April, the trade surplus totaled USD 4.8 billion, tallying the highest print in six months. The reading came in above the USD 4.5 billion surplus recorded in the same month of the previous year. In the 12 months up to April, the trade surplus totaled USD 48.0 billion (March: USD 47.7 billion surplus).

Exports totaled USD 22.3 billion in April, which represented a 6.5% contraction in year-on-year terms. April’s result marked a notable improvement over March’s 11.4% drop and is the smallest contraction since May 2015. In spite of April’s improvement, exports have contracted for 15 consecutive months. Imports tallied a total of USD 17.4 billion in April, which was a sharp 9.6% fall over the same month of last year. The figure came in above March’s 17.0% decline.

Sample Report

Taiwan Trade Chart

Note: 12-month sum of trade balance in USD billion and annual average variation of the 12-month sum of exports and imports.Source: Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics (DGBAS) and FocusEconomics calculations.